House committee takes no action on public-notices change

Friday

May 20, 2011 at 12:01 AM

Patrick O'Shea @NewsAddict2

HARRISBURG -- Whether any cost savings local municipalities would receive from not having to put paid legal notices in newspapers would be outweighed by the potential loss of public access to the information is the debate before a state House committee.

The House Committee on Local Government had a hearing Thursday on House Bill 633, which would give municipalities the option of advertising their notices for meetings, hearings and public bids on local government websites instead of in newspapers.

The only local legislator on the committee, state Rep. Jaret Gibbons, D-10, Franklin Township, was not present for the hearing because he was attending previously scheduled town hall meetings, but Monday he said he was concerned about what kind of impact the proposed legislation would have on public access.

Some of the 13 committee members at the hearing also expressed skepticism about the bill as it now reads, but no vote was taken Thursday on whether to send the legislation to the full House for review.

Representatives of state associations for counties, school districts, cities, boroughs and townships appeared in support of the bill, which they said could save them a total of $26 million to $29 million a year.

But members of the Pennsylvania Newspapers Association said those cost savings estimates are overblown and include help wanted ads, which are a separate category, and sheriff's sale notices, which are not paid by taxpayers. One PNA member said the average cost to individual local government agencies is close to $2,800, depending on what is going on in each community.

Teri Henning, PNA president, said the measure actually would cost taxpayers more because municipalities would have to update, maintain and staff their websites, and she said most aren't prepared for the extra traffic they would get on sites.

In addition, Henning said, public access would be hampered because bidders would have to search up to 4,000 separate sites to find the information, and she noted many people still don't have Internet access.

Martin Till, president and publisher of the Lehigh Valley Media Group, testified that those who say the move has to be made because newspapers are dying are buying into a myth. He said most newspapers have expanded to the Internet and have never had better readership.

But Till said it is important for the notices to be in print because people know where to find them and they are easily searchable. Also, he said more than 100 state newspapers already are putting legal notices online for free at www.mypublicnotices.com.

PNA was joined by several other groups, including AARP, The League of Women Voters, the Sierra Club and the Teamsters Union, in asking the committee to table or kill the legislation.

Ray Landis, advocacy manager for AARP in Pennsylvania, noted a recent survey showed that more than 50 percent of those over 65 do not have Internet access, which he said is an issue in a state that has one of the oldest populations.

Although the 50-64 age range had about 78 percent Internet access in the study, Landis said the numbers still are low for those who make less than $25,000 per year.

"This is an idea whose time has not come," Landis said.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.